A long standing problem is electrified rails in railroads and particularly in scale model railroads has been how to provide good electrical continutiy the full length of the track while segmenting the track into easily installed sections. The electrical continuity between the rail sections in model railroads has been poor.
Typically, the entire rail in a section was made of a conductive material such as brass or aluminum. Abutting sections of rails were connected physically and electrically by conductive clips that slid over the foot of the "I" cross-sectional shape of both rails at the abutting joint.
The conductivity of these clip connections between rails was dependent on the tightness of the clip as it gripped the abutting rail sections. Inevitably, these clips would make poorer electrical connections as the track was used. The result was that electric engines drawing power from the track would lose electrical power in certain track sections or would receive less power the longer the distance from the electrical power source to the position of the electric engine drawing power from the track.
Some solutions for this problem in the past have included track sections that have conductive rails with male/female couplings at the abutment between rail sections. In at least one case, U.S. Pat. No. 3,583,631, the rail body was non-conductive and was covered by conductive channel member having couplings to connect abutting sections or rails. Another solution shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,084,322 also uses track sections with non-conductive rails covered by conductive channels fitted over the non-conductive rail. In this solution, abutting sections of rails are electrically connected by channel clips that fit over the conductive channels at the abutment joint. Both of these solutions are dependent on a tight fit at the coupling between rail sections to provide good electrical conductivity between abutting rails.